


Through Hell

by Ballycastle_Bat



Series: Snowbarry [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Team Flash, Alternate Universe - Canon, Background Cisco/Eddie, Background Hope Wells/Tess Morgan, Barry is still Nora's bilogical father because I love her, Cisco Ramon is Echo, Day 5: Kidnapped, Eddie Thawne is Vibe, F/M, First Snowbarry fic, Kidnapping, Married Couple, Multiverse, Past Abuse, Past Domestic Violence, Trauma, Tumblr: snowbarryweek, but it's not really a huge point in the fic, ps I suck at endings and action but I'm trying lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-16 01:54:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21499918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ballycastle_Bat/pseuds/Ballycastle_Bat
Summary: Team Flash bands together to confront a villain from Caitlin's past.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Caitlin Snow
Series: Snowbarry [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1549690
Comments: 9
Kudos: 22
Collections: Snowbarry Week 2019





	1. To The Surface

**Author's Note:**

> [[Warnings: Start of each chapter.  
> Prompts: This is for Snowbarry week 2019. Day 5: Prisoner/Prison/Kidnapped  
> Notes: I'm so excited to participate for the first time. This is a bit late but I refused to give up on it. This is also my first Snowbarry fic ever, so I'm still kinda getting comfortable in the pairing. This was started before 6x06 so this Echo isn't at all related to the one mentioned. Also, I'm not used to writing this high stakes, so a lot of this falls a little flat and that's not intentional. I can't learn to write something without reading and writing it :D  
> Betas: Thank you to Claire for editing the first chapter for me! ]]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[Warnings: What it says in the tags, past abuse, trauma, etc.]]

When Caitlin arrived home after a particularly long shift, the house was quiet-- which was awfully suspicious when she had a hyperactive speedster husband and a six-year-old son. “Boys?” Caitlin called. “Are you two ready to go to Big Belly Burger?” She set her things on the table beside the door. “Barry? Charlie?”

As she moved further into the house, a redheaded child darted from the living room into the main hallway. He stopped when he reached her, his arms outstretched. “Mommy!”  
  
Caitlin lifted Charlie onto her hip. “Hello, baby.” she grinned, giving him a tight hug. “Did you and daddy have a good day?” she was tired and wanted nothing more than to unwind.   
  
Charlie looked down. “I’m not supposed to say.”

Caitlin’s eyebrows pulled together. Her husband was in trouble again; she could feel it in her bones. So, naturally, she pressed for more information. “You aren’t, huh? Is it a secret?”   
  
He nodded and hid his face in Caitlin’s arm. “But it’s okay! Daddy is all better now!” 

That did not sound good. Not one bit.   
  
“He is, huh?” she was a little bit amused now, but still not sure she was prepared for the mess she was about to walk into. 

It was mere moments before the man of the hour appeared: Barrence "Barry" Allen. His golden hair, which was usually windblown and pushed back, was sticking out in a few different directions, making it very obvious that it’d taken a few fists during a rough programming session. He’d been trying to fix a few issues with his Artificial Intelligence. Caitlin gave him an amused look. “Charlie was just telling me that you two had quite the adventure today.”   
  
Barry made a dismissive motion with his hand. “No. We didn’t have any  _ adventures, _ ” he assured her. “Nothing to worry about here.”   
  
“Barrence Allen, you lie about as well as our six-year-old,” Caitlin accused, starting to move towards him. “We can talk about it now, or at dinner.”   
  
Barry crossed the room to wrap his arms around both her and Charlie before kissing Caitlin lightly on the lips. He then sidestepped out of whacking distance. “It was just a couple minor first-degree burns.”   
  
“On whom?” she took one of Charlie 's hand carefully and started to look it over, her gaze sharp, she looked up at Barry again once she was certain her son was unharmed.   
  
“Me.” Barry assured her quickly, moving back within whacking distance. “But everything is fine. I heal fast.”

“How many is a couple?”   
  
“I don’t know, I stopped counting after four. I made sure Charlie was perfectly safe though!"

"He is being truthful, Dr. Allen." Gideon's voice came over the loudspeaker, startling Caitlin, who wasn't quite used to it yet.

“We worked on Gideon, mommy! I didn’t mean to hurt him.” The child pouted.   
  
“I wish that thing wouldn’t pop up out of nowhere." she sighed, collecting herself. "You gave our six-year-old a soldering iron?” she was gravitating up into her serious voice.   
  
Barry's hand worried the back of his neck anxiously. “Hey, I wasn’t that much older than him when I built my first robot!” he shrugged his shoulders, desperately trying to plead his case.   
  
Caitlin sighed, shaking her head. “We’ll deal with it later. I’m going to shower, can you get Charlie ready for dinner?”

Barry nodded and took Charlie from her arms, carrying the child upstairs to get him changed. It wasn’t too much of a hassle that night, which he was grateful for.   
  
Big Belly Burger was fairly quiet for the evening; they were able to find a booth at the back. Charlie held a Flash comic in his little hands. “Daddy, what’s that word?” He pushed the comic over, pointing to a large word on the page.   
  
Barry moved to Charlie’s side of the booth, pulling the comic back across the table. “Let's sound it out, okay?” He covered up half the word. “Do you know how to read this word?”   
  
“Level.”   
  
Barry nodded. “This one?”   
  
“Head”

“Good. Then we add the -ed.”   
  
“Level-headed. What does that mean?”   
  
Barry smiled in response. “How about we look it up?” he pulled out his phone and opened the dictionary app. “Here we go, do you want to type it in?”

“Yes!” Charlie started to copy the letters in with one finger. It took him a minute or so, but Barrence waited.   
  
_ Having or showing sound judgment. _

“I don’t understand.” Charlie crossed his arms.   
  
Caitlin leaned on her arms a bit. “It was not a very levelheaded decision when daddy let you use a soldering iron,” She smiled, with just a little attitude towards Barry.

Charlie chuckled into his hand, knowing Barry was in trouble for that. However, the interaction was short-lived when Eddie Thawne came into view.

He made his way over to the booth. "Hey Cait, could I talk to you for a minute? In private."   
  
Caitlin gazed up at him. “You have something you can’t say in front of Barry?” Confusion coloured her tone. Eddie had never approached her like this that she could recall.

Eddie responded by nodding towards Charlie. “I think it’s best if we talk alone.”   
  
Caitlin stood and exited the establishment; she was grateful that it was a season that allowed for sunlight after six pm. “There was a ping on Hunter Zoloman’s ATM card," Eddie began to explain. “I normally wouldn’t bother you like this, but we’re going to look into this seriously. We may even involve Barry if we have to.”

Caitlin blinked. She hadn’t heard that name in years. Her high school sweetheart wasn’t someone who was brought up, especially considering he’d died a few years before the particle accelerator explosion that gave Barry and the majority of team Flash (including Iris and Eddie) their powers.

“Why are you bothering me about that?” Caitlin crossed her arms. “Someone used a dead man’s ATM card. That hardly warrants an investigation so big you had to pull me out of dinner with my family.”

Eddie pulled an image from his blazer. “This is from the ATM’s surveillance.”   
  
Caitlin took it and squinted at the grainy photo. The man looked directly at the camera. He could have been Hunter. There were similarities but the image wasn't very high quality. She had her doubts, Hunter wasn't exactly unique looking, even if she felt she could recognise him anywhere. “This could be any tall brunet, Eddie.”

“I 'Vibed' it,” he said. “It’s him.”   
  
Caitlin nodded slowly. “Well--” she smoothed down her shirt a bit in a nervous action. “I’m going to finish having dinner with family, and then I’m going home.” It had been five years since Hunter died. Five years since she'd needed to worry about him coming back. She pulled herself together when her fingers and palms began to feel prickly-- the unmistakable feeling of her powers threatening to surface.   
  
She then made her way back into the Big Belly Burger and went back up to the counter, passing the woman at the desk her number and asking them to change the status of the order to take out.  
  
She rejoined the boys and started to pack up some of Charlie’s stuff into her purse. “Hey, Barr, I think we should just head out."   
  
Barry grew serious. “What’s happening?” He could easily sense something was going on.

Caitlin just looked at Charlie as an indicator to not ask further. Her bag was taken from her by Barry when he saw her hands trembling. “Okay, we’ll figure this out.” He offered her a soft smile.   
  
When their food was ready, they returned home and set Charlie up at the dining room table. They ate dinner as a family, and Charlie talked about Gideon. He had always been interested in whatever Barry was working on. As soon as he started walking, he always wanted to be right where the action was; even if that meant watching Barry work on wiring from a playpen.   
  
Caitlin gently stroked Charlie’s hair back. It was a wild mess of copper curls. At home, Barry went to pull Caitlin out of the room by her hand, but her hand fell from his. “I want to have dinner with my son.”

“Okay,” Barry said, his voice soft. Cait was going cold again, and this worried him. Whatever was going on, it wasn’t something they could deal with quickly. Barry moved forward, pressing a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Whatever you want to do.”

Charlie spoke a mile a minute about the comic he and Barry read at Big Belly Burger, and of course about the work they did on Gideon. When dinner was done, Barry had Charlie help him clean up. They were trying to teach him good habits now that he was spending half the day at school. 

“Good job, buddy,” he praised. “Do you want to watch your superhero cartoons?”   


“Yeah! I want to watch Spidey!” Charlie clapped.   


“All right, slugger.”

Moving into the next room, Barry got Charlie all set up. Once the show was on and Charlie got his favourite blanket, he went back into the kitchen.   
  
Caitlin stared out the kitchen window, her brows tightly knitted together, which indicated to him that something was very wrong. He slowly came to stand next to her. “Cait.” his voice was soft. “What’s going on?” his hand slowly came to rest on her shoulder.

She shrugged away. “It’s nothing. I’m just-- trying really hard to-” Pausing, she inhaled deeply. “CCPD is going to be here soon, some new stuff came up in Hunter’s case.”

“He’s dead. What could they possibly want from you?”

Cait swallowed. “They got a ping on his ATM card, and they have surveillance-- Eddie vibed it. It’s him, or some version of him. I don’t know, Barry.” She was trembling so much that she was nearly vibrating.

Barry crossed his arms, as Caitlin made it clear she didn’t want to be touched. “We are going to take care of this, okay?” said Barry, his tone serious, but gentle. “I don’t know what’s happening, but we won't let anything happen, okay?”

Caitlin nodded. “I know, I’m just trying to calm down. My head won't let me.

Moments later there was a knock at the door. “Do you want me to go?”

Caitlin reached out and touched the back of his hand. Uncrossing his arms, Barry took her hand in his and lips found the back of it. “Let’s go.” They went to the door together, and on their porch were Eddie Thawne and Officer James Birde.   
  
Barry frowned a bit; he’d always had issues with Birde. It always felt personal, but he never pressed the matter; there were always going to be officers at the precinct Barry didn't get along with. “Can we help you, officers?”

“We need to talk to Caitlin Allen.” 

Barry had grown up around cops. He had been raised by an officer. He never felt uncomfortable. That all went out the window with Birde. Caitlin stood up a bit straighter with her shoulders back. “What is this about officers?”

“Sorry about the hour, Mrs. Allen. We’d like to ask you a few questions about Hunter Zolomon,” said Birde, chest out. Always trying to look like the strongest person in the room. “May we come in?”

Caitlin crossed her arms. “I have a six-year-old son. I don’t want to talk about this in front of him. Can my husband take him upstairs first?”   
  
“Cait--” Barry began, but Caitlin deflected.   
  
“I’ll be fine, Barry, can you take Charlie upstairs?” She turned to the officers and smiled. “Would you like some lemonade? Barry just made some this afternoon.”

Caitlin watched with a fluttering heartbeat as Barry returned to the living room. She waited until she knew Barry had reached the stairs, getting her son far out of hearing range. He was her priority in this.

She then lead the officers through to the kitchen where they explained the situation again. This time it was without the extra details she'd received from Eddie earlier. "If he did somehow resurface, then I assure you I don't know anything."

Officer Birde offered a card. "I understand there were domestic issues--"

"He was abusive, yes," Caitlin replied plainly.

Bride's hand shuffled across his notepad, seeming to take note of that. "Would you care to elaborate on that? My notes just indicate some domestic issues."

Caitlin's mouth dried up and lead slowly filled her insides. She looked down at the table, her hands tightening in her lap. Ghostly sensations crept up her arms.

Eddie's voice brought her back to the present. "Take your time, Cait."

When she realised she was expressing some sort of visible reaction, she forced it down, like she had a thousand times before. Meeting Officer Bride's eyes, she said strongly. "He would throw and break things. He was verbally abusive as well."

Birde nodded and took a few notes. "Was the abuse ever physical?"

Caitlin nodded. "Yes. On several occasions."

He hummed and took a few more notes, not giving her his full attention. "You never filed a report?" he raised his eyebrows at her.

"It wasn't that easy."

He took a few more notes down and Eddie stepped in. "I think that's all we need. Thank you for your time, Dr. Allen."

When they were gone, Caitlin took a few minutes to collect herself before moving upstairs. Barry and Charlie were in the master bedroom, a new cartoon on the television, the volume turned low. Charlie was tucked up under Barry's arm, sound asleep.

She quickly changed into her pyjamas and got into bed. "We just finished transitioning him out of co-sleeping." Her tone didn't have the authority it usually did. She moved to the bed and turned off the lamp.

"How did it go?"

"Birde asked so many intrusive questions," Caitlin said, her voice low. "But I don't know enough about the legal system to know how valid they were."

"I should have had Eddie take Charlie. I can't stand Birde, but they probably needed to know if he had any history of violence." His voice was serious, shifting on the bed slightly so he could lay down.

Caitlin took one of Charlie's tiny hands and kissed the back of it. She didn't know what was going to happen next. She hoped the police wouldn't bother her again and that she and Team Flash could manage the situation.  _ If _ he was a meta, which was the assumption at present.

Caitlin tried to cast aside the residual fear, the aches from another time that she couldn't banish from her brain. She did not fear the Hunter that may still be alive. She was prepared to face any threat. She and Barry were ready. They had Team Flash on their side as well. There was still, however, a fear Caitlin couldn't shake of the Hunter that  _ was _ . Forced to the surface long after she believed she'd dealt with them.

All she could do now to distract herself was to prepare for whatever Hunter may have become.


	2. Though a Nightmare, Darkly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Warning: None]]

Charlie didn’t like the bunks at S.T.A.R. Labs. He hadn’t spent much time at the lab, in fact they usually did their best to keep him away from the building except for emergencies like this. Caitlin had spotted hunter while walking to get Charlie home from school. He’d walked right past her like he didn’t know who she was. It was possible he didn’t, and Charlie’s school was close enough to the City Center, so it wasn’t unusual for her to see all sorts of people when traveling there from Chubbuk.

When Caitlin came down to the bunks, she found her boys there. Barry holding Charlie close to him. Humming a soft song in an attempt to soothe him. Caitlin joined them without much thought. 

“I promise we’re just here for a little while, honey.” She was trying to assure him, but wasn’t sure how much she could help. He was old enough now to be aware that something was going on, no matter how hard they fought to keep the burden of the situation off of him. The last time he was kept here for more than a night he was only a year old. He closed his eyes and whined in response to her words.

“I want to go home.”

“I know, honey, but we can’t right now. Do you want to go upstairs with daddy and see what your uncles are doing?.” she smiled softly.  
  
“No."

Caitlin sighed and turned to Barry. “I’ll go get some more of his things from home, then I’ll sit with him if you want to go touch base with the others.”  
  
“Yeah, I can sit with him for a while.”

A woman appeared at the stairs then. “How’s the little man doing?”

“We’re hanging in there, Dr. Wells.” said Caitlin. “Thank you for helping Cisco with the security system again.”

“Of course.” Hope smiled. “I was wondering if Charlie would like to have some hot cocoa with me in the longue.”

“Do you want to go, buddy?” Barry asked. “Maybe you could read some Flash comics.”  
  
Charlie agreed to go to the longue, surprisingly. Barry was grateful to get a moment with his wife before they went to touch base. 

Charlie and Hope found her wife Tess in the longue. Charlie attempted to hoist himself onto the stool; he nearly tipped it over. Tess responded by lifting him into the seat. “There we go, pumpkin.” she smiled fondly at him, it reached her eyes with soft crinkles. “I bet we’re making Hope’s special cocoa.”

“Yes!” Charlie replied, more able to let go of the situation than the adults now that he was settling in.  
  
Hope moved towards the counter and started to get the stove ready. “Charlie is going to learn my secret recipe.”  
  
“Oh, well aren’t you lucky, Charlie.” Tess moved to the cabinet.  
  
While Tess and Hope began to set up their workspace, Charlie had a mood swing it seemed. “Why do I have to stay here? I want to go home?” he seemed to be prepared to press the subject. “I want to go to school. I want to see my friends.”

Hope sighed. She knew kids were stubborn, distracting Charlie would be hard. She turned to him again. “I know you do, kiddo, and you will soon.” she moved around the counter. “Like your parents told you, honey, there are some bad people in the city right now that some people with S.T.A.R. Labs need to take care of. So we have to make sure everyone who works here is safe.”  
  
“I know about bad people. Are these bad people Metahumans?” said Charlie, a little too well, it was a big word for a six year old.  
  
“Yes, sweetheart. That’s why we locked down the lab, but you know not all meta humans are bad, right?.”  
  
He nodded. “I know, but Mommy and daddy tell me different things.” He crossed his arms and his brow wrinkled. “Not _all_ the time.” He whined slightly; seeming frustrated. “But sometimes, they don’t say the same things and I get _soooo_ confused.”

“Sometimes when bad things happen, it’s very stressful. I’m sure they don’t mean to.” Tess added gently, her hand on his back. “Lets have lots of fun here while The Flash deals with the problem.”

“Where does daddy keep going? He won’t stay downstairs with me.”

“You know he does important work for the lab,” said Dr. Wells, only slightly butting in. “I’m sure he’s working on Gideon.”

“I want to work on Gideon too!”

“I’m sorry, sweetie. Your father’s lab here isn’t the same as it is at home. It’s too dangerous for a little one like you.”

“Daddy is always really fast and keeps me safe.”

“Not today, sweetie. Maybe in the morning. Let’s make some cocoa, okay?” She tried to be patient. She eventually managed to get Charlie focused on the brewing.

* * *

In the lower levels Barry took Caitlin’s hands. “Hey. You know, even with everything going on, it’s still our anniversary tomorrow.” His thumbs gently circled the backs of her hands.  
  
In response, Caitlin pulled her hands from Barry’s. He almost stepped back to give space, but ss wrapped her arms around Barry’s neck; laying her head on his chest.  
  
His arms locked around her and he kissed her head; lingering for a moment. "It's going to be okay."

"I know."

"Do you want your gift tonight or tomorrow?"  
  
“I hid your gift here.” Caitlin actually laughed. “We could do gifts now before everyone else gets here to make a plan.”  
  
Barry zipped away and came back with two boxes. “You knew where I hid yours?” she raised an eyebrow.  
  
“You hid it in the back of Cisco’s bookshelf.” he pointed out. “Cisco found it and you know he can’t keep a secret to save his life.”  
  
“That’s why I didn’t tell him it was there.” Caitlin found herself laughing despite herself.  
  
They exchanged gifts; Barry presenting Caitlin with a small silver locket. On one side was a photo of himself, Caitlin and their son from a recent photo op in Central City’s park. The other side was a photo of Caitlin and her late brother Charlie, for whom their son was named. Caitlin held the locket in her hands and teared up a bit. “This is beautiful, Barry. I-I got you a gag gift.”  
  
Barry laughed and gently wiped her eyes. “Happy Anniversary, Caitlin Allen. You are the love of my life and I’m so lucky to have been blessed with our beautiful family.”

“Happy anniversary, dear. I love you, Barry Allen.”

Barry opened the small box, and inside was an old fashioned Wallet card photo fold. He pulled it out. The first photo was of their immediate family, them and their son. The second was their wedding photo, their flowers were a soft purple and Caitlin’s dress was simple, smooth down her body with a medium sized train. The next was a photo of Eddie and Cisco with their 8 month old daughter Val. The next was a photo of Joe and Iris, holding Iris’s nine year old daughter Nora. Barry had helped Iris become a mom when she wanted to a few years before Caitlin and Barry had Charlie.  
  
The final photo pictured a large family photo with some of their extended family and their kids. Which was almost hard to see given the size. “How is this gag gift? It’s wonderful.”

Caitlin sniffed. “Remember when we were making fun of you in May, and said you were like that grandpa on the bus who takes out his wallet and tells you the life story of all his grandkids without being asked?” Barry afixed the photo holder into his wallet and folded it back up. “Well, now you’re fully equipped.”

Barry laughed and grinned brightly at her. “Well, I love it. Do I get to thank you with a kiss?”

Caitlin stretched up on her toes and her lips met Barry’s in a soft kiss. Barry leaned forward a bit into the kiss, his arms moving around her waist.

“ _Gross!_ ”

They broke apart to see Charlie standing in the doorway. “Hey, slugger,” Barry laughed, “Come over here.”  
  
Charlie ran over to Barry on wobbly legs. Once he was close enough Barry lifted him up, holding him on his side. Caitlin kissed Charlie’s temple and brushed his hair back. “It’s almost dinner time, what do you want to eat?”

“I saw uncle Ollie upstairs! Is he going to make Chili?” Charlie grinned.  
  
“No, that’s going to burn a hole in your stomach,” Caitlin laughed softly. “Ollie is only here to get some things from the lab.” Barry had convinced Green Arrow to return home, even though he’d wanted to practice going up against Metahumans, but Team Flash was already on it. Anymore people may cause alarm in Central City. They couldn’t exactly announce to the city that the Green Arrow was just here for practice and this wasn’t another earth-shattering emergency.

* * *

The next morning Caitlin slipped away from S.T.A.R. Labs, leaving Charlie in the (mostly) safe hands of Eddie and Cisco. Luckily Charlie was moderately entertained by babies so seeing Val would hopefully keep him from wandering off.  
  
She arrived at her destination in a few hours; her and Hunter’s old apartment. Just approaching the door made Caitlin’s skin feel forgein, like it wasn’t her own; while somehow also tightening her chest. She knocked three times. She worried about the possibility that someone else.

After a few seconds the door opened only enough for a man’s face to peek out; it was Hunter, there was no mistake now. “I--” she began to speak but she paused when he continued to give her a confused expression.

The man blinked at her. “You’re that metahuman doctor from the news.” he opened the door a tiny bit more but stayed where he was, he seemed almost anxious. “Can I help you?”

Caitlin was taken aback. Maybe he was a doppelganger afterall, like the scientist they’d met ‘Harrison’ who had claimed to be from another earth. They were aware of the multiverse now but they didn’t get many breachers after that. Dr. Hope Wells and team Flash had been working on it. Her eyes narrowed. “You know who I am, Hunter.”

The man seemed to swallow thickly. “O-of course I do, Dr. Allen.” his smile was forced. “What can I do for you today?”

“You can stop stalking me.” She stood tall; shoulders back, feet planted firmly on the ground. “If you come anywhere near me or my family again--”

His confused stare penetrated her very soul. Something seemed so genuine about it. The doppelganger theory was starting to feel like something she almost wanted to believe. She couldn’t be sure. Hunter was a master manipulator; he always had been. He had been so good at his games that even Caitlin’s mother had loved him.

* * *

Later in the cortex, it became obvious that the team wasn’t on board with her visit. “I can’t believe you went after him _alone_ .” said Cisco, pulling away from the super computer. “Barry is going to just-- freak out.”  
  
“I had to see what was going on.” Caitlin crossed her arms. “I wasn’t just going to wait around for him to come looking for me.”

“We don’t know what powers this guy has.”

Iris interjected. “Yeah, Cait. You should have at least had me scope things out.” her arms crossed over her chest. Iris’s powers were a bit tricky to pinpoint, but he’d become a master of stealth. They weren’t done testing them. They seemed to shift away from answers every time they got close. After the argument, Iris seemed a bit more sympathetic to the situation.  
  
Iris, however, was still serious about it. Understanding the situation a little more than Cisco didn’t completely convince he that it was a good idea for Caitlin to set off alone into a strange situation.

Caitlin followed Cisco to his lab when he walked away from the argument. “Cisco,” she said, closing the door behind her. “I know your heart is in the right place, but you can’t hold me back from this. I’m going to be involved.”

Cisco looked up from his project, sighing. “I know, but I’m not sure how you want me to react to this,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I be worried, Cait? That monster’s got powers. Am I supposed to just be calm about this?”

She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I want to be part of confronting him. I don’t need you to protect me, I’m a big girl.”  
  
“Okay. I know that’s your right, so I’ll back off.”

Caitlin hugged him gently. “You have always showed up for me, thank you, Cisco.”  
  
He hugged her back. “You’re my friend, Cait. Of course I do.” They broke apart and he added. “Where’s my nephew? I’ve got a mini lab set up to distract him.”

Caitlin sighed. “As long as there’s not soldering irons.” she gave in, she would need to keep her son distracted. So they left to set Charlie up with the next wave of distractions.  
  
At the end of the day, Caitlin laid down in bed and Charlie got out of his bed to join her in hers. He seemed frustrated. “What's the matter? I know it's not fun down here but we'll go home soon. I promise.” Her hand rubbed soothing circle’s into her son’s back. Hoping he would settle soon and go back to sleep. “Did you have a good day with Val and Nora?”

“Nora doesn’t like me. She says I’m a baby.” He scrunched up his face.   
  
Caitlin laughed a little and patted his hair down. “Sometimes big kids are just stinky. You’ll get along when you’re older. When you’re older you’ll probably think Val is annoying.”   
  
“I love Val! She’s always smiling!”   
  
Caitlin kissed his forehead softy. “You are such a sweet boy. I love you so much.”   
  
“I love you,” he mumbled in return, finally starting to drift off to sleep, surprisingly without fuss. Caitlin figured he was stressed from the ordeal.


	3. Escape Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [[Warnings: Kidnapping, abuse, discussed past murder, this Hunter is all around very creepy, blood, kinda gore, some action/fighting.  
> Notes: Thangs for holding on until the end! <3]]

Caitlin began to regain consciousness. As she became more aware of herself, she realised that she couldn’t remember anything about the previous day. Her head lulled around until she felt her hands were pulled behind her back and held in place with … power dampening cuffs. She couldn’t summon her power no matter how much she tried. She began to look around the room for any clues about her location.  
  
The room seemed normal, she sat on a large king sized bed with a white comforter. However, when he eyes fell on the window she saw that it was covered with plywood from the outside.  
  
“Oh good, you’re awake.” the voice came from somewhere across the room. Her eyes followed the sound to its source, and standing in a doorway against the far wall was Hunter. He began to move across the room until he crouched down in front of her. “What do you think of the colour?” he asked casually. 

“The what?” Caitlin demanded. “Let me go!”

His response was casual, ignoring her tone. “The room, is it the right colour? The other ones liked this purple. If you don’t like, I can paint something else.  
  
_The other one? What’s that supposed to mean?_ She closed her eyes tightly. “Where is my family?” she pulled against the cuffs painfully.  
  
“I was incredibly shocked to learn that you got married. “ It was his only response to the question and it made her blood run cold.

She glared. “You are Hunter. You did a great show of acting like you didn’t know me.”

Hunter stared at her with a look that was almost innocent. “Darling, I didn’t know who you were. Not until you showed up on my doorstep yelling about your son.”  
  
Hunter stepped forward, and Caitlin flinched. However, he only moved to remove the cuffs on her hands. They were just plain metal cuffs, which meant the source dampening her powers were elsewhere.  
  
“I’m almost done with dinner.” he informed her. “I also got some wine. I hope white is fine.”  
  
Caitlin didn’t respond other than to stand and walk with him. She needed to scope out the location. Running blind wouldn’t get her anywhere in this state. This wasn’t the first time some version of Hunter had in some way bound to get his way. She could vividly remember being restrained to keep her from going to see her brother. Swallowing down her fear, she decided to follow him. The staircase was well crafted, carefully carved. “I have a special treat for you.”

When they arrived downstairs, there was someone sitting at the large kitchen table. He was tall with a shaggy mess of copper hair, nearly flopping down into his eyes. Caitlin’s mouth dried up. _Charlie._ Or well, a doppelganger of Charlie’s who had one hand handcuffed to the chair. He had been frantically struggling with the cuffs but to no avail. He stopped.  
  
Their eyes met and Charlie seemed just as shocked and confused to see Caitlin’s face. “I thought you’d like it if your brother could join us for dinner.”  
  
Caitlin wanted to demand what kind of sick joke this was, but she didn’t have a handle on the situation yet. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in as much as she could. The dining room and kitchen were connected, behind Charlie was a carefully crafted kitchen. Part of her wondered if it would be best to play along until she could get more information.

“I’ll leave you two to catch up.” he said as he pulled out the chair beside Charlie for her. “I just need to get something.”  
  
Caitlin carefully sat down and began to level her breathing. When hunter was gone she looked at the young man beside her. “You’re on another earth,” she told him gently. “We’re going to get out of here, but I need you to trust me, which I know is hard.”

“You’re dead.” he whispered.  
  
“I’ll explain later.” the footsteps returned.  
  
“Did Charlie tell you he got accepted at Brown?” Hunter asked casually as he set down a book on the table. “Here’s that book I was talking about before.”

“T-Thanks Hunter.” Charlie forced a smile.  
  
“You got into Brown?” Caitlin pressed, trying desperately to steady herself. It looked like it might be up to Charlie and Caitlin to escape this hell.  
  
“Yeah. I just applied. You know I was a couple years delayed.” he forced a laugh. “but they still took me.”  
  
“That’s amazing.”  
  
After dinner, which neither captive ate, Charlie was removed from the area. Hunter said he was going ‘home’ but Caitlin had no idea where her brother’s doppelganger was being held.

* * *

At S.T.A.R. Labs things were getting serious, jumping into gear. Eddie had his pale grey hood down around his shoulders. “Cisco and I vibed her, but all we were able to find was that she’s in a house somewhere. There was a man with her. They were at a dinner table. Caitlin said she was going to get them out.”  
  
“Who was the other person?” Barry entered the lab, he’d been checking Hunter’s apartment for clues when he left the team. 

“We don’t know.” Cisco replied. “Maybe the sketch artist at CCPD could help.”

“Alright, you go get her and we’ll see what he can come up with.”  
  
Iris stood by Barry’s side. “We’ll find her Barry.”

“What am I going to say to Charlie?”

“We don’t have to tell him anything right now. He’s with Tess and the other kids. I can take him to Earh-230 to be with Kal and Winn if we have to. Okay? Everything is going to work out fine.”

Barry began to type some things into the super computer. “Gideon?”  
  
“Yes Mr. Allen?”  
  
“What’s your DNA processing time at now?”

“Twenty-eight hours, Mr. Allen.”  
  
“Damn.”

“Is there a problem, Mr. Allen?”

“Caitlin was taken,” he explained, and started to pull up Gideon’s operating system information.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hunter left Caitlin alone in the kitchen, letting her ‘take care of the dishes’. She wondered if he had camera’s on her, or something that allowed him to leave her alone so willingly. Once he was out of sight, Caitlin turned on the sink. The water ran, which she was surprised about. She moved through the front of the house and tried the front door.  
  
It was unlocked. She bit her lip, knowing it was likely a trap. Though truth be told, she didn’t know this Hunter. Maybe he was stupid enough to leave an exit unguarded. She opened the front door and there was some light.  
  
“Did you want to go for a walk?” Hunter’s voice was casual.  
  
“What?”

Hunter had appeared behind her and was now walking out the door. Caitlin’s stomach churned. He’d constructed an entire front lawn, with a fake sky. There was a screened in porch like a movie.  
  
Caitlin crossed her arms. “Just tell me what you want from me.” her voice was barely a whisper. Caitlin usually got out of these situations much easier. She wasn’t sure how he would have known to dampen her powers.  
  
“What do you mean? Is this because I painted the bedroom the wrong colour?”

Caitlin glared at him. “My family is going to be looking for me.”  
  
“Charlie can come by whenever he wants.” he looked at her innocently.

“My husband.”

Hunter’s strong grip was on her arm in an instant, bringing her up the stairs to their room.

She tried to run when he let go, but he placed her back on the bed and easily overpowered her, cuffing her hands behind her back again. He was too strong for her without her powers. When he moved away, he tilted her head to look at him. “You’re the love of my life, Caitlin.”

“Why are you obsessed with me?” she demanded, trying to pull away from his unwelcome touch.  
  
“You were the first woman I ever killed.” He smiled softly, like he was recalling a fond memory. “On my earth there was a particle accelerator explosion that caused the earthquake that let me out of prison. My first Caitlin was a quiet pre-med student. Barely nineteen. She was lonely, you know. I took her home and she told me everything, we were good friends … and then, one night I killed her. Nice and slow.”  
  
“You’re sick.”

“After I killed her I gained some sort of power from taking her life. I could heal people and myself. But that was so _boring_ ,” he let go of her face. “So I killed someone else to see if it was just a fluke. A boy named Tommy Merlyn. It wasn’t, but those powers didn’t suit me either.”

Caitlin realised that things were a bit deeper than she thought. Her bad memories became and even worse reality. She closed her eyes tightly. “but Caitlin has always meant something to me. I’ve gone to other earths before, and when you were there I always found myself captivated… and then you showed up on my doorstep, I knew it was a sign.”  
  
“The only thing that’s a sign of is that the Hunter here was a monster too.” Caitlin snapped. She tried not to think about her dopplegangers and their families. Tried not to think about how she was going to make it out of this. Her family was figuring something out, weren’t they? She tried to hold onto that.

* * *

Barry had been neck deep in Gideon’s coding, trying to find some way to speed her processing times. It wasn’t getting him very far though. Cisco entered the room with a piece of paper. “Eddie got this from CCPD’s sketch artist.”

“Show me.” he grabbed the piece of paper and inspected it carefully. “I think this guy is a Hunter doppleganger for sure.”  
  
“What makes you say that?”

“This is a sketch of Caitlin’s brother, Charlie. He died when she was in college.” he explained. “He would have been twenty-five or something now.” he explained, started to shuffle through more of Gideon’s coding before reaching for a soldering iron.

After hours of work, Barry managed to configure something. “Okay, Gideon, please process this sample for me.” He set up some hair from the brush he’d gotten from home. Gideon began to process the sample she was provided with. “What should we label the sample?”  
  
“Caitlin Allen, Maiden Name Snow. Born February 28, 1989.”  
  
“Identity stored.”  
  
“Thank you, Gideon. Are you able to send that data to the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite and gather a location?”  
  
“One moment please.” Gideon smiled at him and then began to stall.  
  
Barry stood and headed into the cortex. “I managed to configure something with Gideon, I’m trying to use the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite to track her.”

“Can you do that?” asked Eddie.  
  
Cisco, who held Val carefully in his arms, shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s kind of advanced for what we have now. We’ve never tried, but it’s better than nothing. Great thinking Barry.” he passed the baby to Eddie.

“I’ll go make tweaks too. It could take a few hours.”

“If he managed to get Caitlin, maybe Joe and I should take the kids to see Kal and Winn,” Iris suggested. “Earth 234 would probably be safer than here.”

“I don’t know,” Barry hesitated. “I don’t want to send my son through a breach.”

“I know, but you’ll have to explain things to him eventually.”  
  
“We can talk about it later.” he dismissed, returning to Gideon.

* * *

It took a while, but Caitlin had bartered some alone time with Charlie. This version of Hunter seemed a little too easily swayed to Caitlin’s intentions. He was so cocky, easily believing her faux resignation.  
  
Charlie had a living area through the fake front yard and a little to the left. She knocked on the door, he opened it only partially. “Are you okay?” When he saw she was alone, he opened the door fully.  
  
“Can I come in?”

He moved aside to let her in and shut the door; locking it behind her. It was carefully constructed like a college dorm. A Brown University flag hung over the bed. “Do you have any idea where you came from?"

“No. Hunter took me through some kind of blue portal.”  
  
“My husband and I are calling this Earth-1. The multiverse is really confusing, but I promise we’re going to get out of here. If I don’t find a way, my family.” she explained.  
  
“Okay.” He didn’t seem convinced though.  
  
She moved to reach out to him and he ducked away. “I’m sorry this happened. I’m sure you’re scared and your family is worried.”  
  
He tensed. “My Caitlin is dead. It was just us-- he killed her to take me.”

“Oh, Charlie. I’m sorry.”

He glared at the floor. “Is your brother missing you?”

“No, he died.” Caitlin said softly. “I named my son after him, he was the light of my life.” She very much wanted this Charlie to trust her.

Charlie’s eyebrows pulled together, like that information meant something to him. The not-siblings sat together in silence for a while. “You don’t know anything about this place that could get us out?” He asked after a moment. “I haven’t gone into the main house much.”

“Not yet. There was plywood over one of the windows, but that was the master bedroom. “I could try to break it, but I would have to wait for him to leave me alone.”  
  
The two began to talk in depth about what they’d learned about the building. It wasn’t much unfortunately. So they began to talk through strategy, occasionally learning more about each other.

* * *

Gideon’s voice sounded off in the Cortex at S.T.A.R. Labs. “Mr. Allen, I’ve pinged a location that matches the sample you provided.”  
  
Barry suited up, leaving his cowl down. “We got a hit on an old deserted area outside of the city. Imaging showed a strange structure so she is very likely to have been locked up there.” He went to the cortex to suit up. “Eddie? Cisco?”

“I really think I should take the kids,” Iris added as Cisco passed Val to her so he could suit up.  
  
There was a bit of a stall until. “FLASH!” Barry’s head whipped around and in the doorway of the cortex, little Charlie stood. He stared at Barry’s face with confusion for a moment, but then he grinned. “daddy?”  
  
Barry crossed the room and scooped him up without hesitation. Wells appeared then. “I’m sorry, Barry. He got away from me.”

"Its fine." he knelt down to his level. “Hey, this is really serious, I need you to be brave for me."

"Where's mommy?"

"I'm going to get mommy right now, okay? But while I'm gone you have to go with Auntie Iris and help her and some of my friends protect the baby, okay?"

"I want mommy."

"I know, I promise, I'm bringing mommy back." He eventually got Charlie to go through the 'scary blue door' as he had explained the breach to Charlie. He returned to the team after thanking Kal and Winn.

With the kids secure, Barry rushed into the breach to Caitlin, however as quickly as it opened, it closed again, trapping him inside. He turned quickly to Caitlin. "Are you hurt?" without hesitation he removed the cuffs from her hands. His thumbs gently rubbed her wrists when they were free.

"No," her voice was low. "but he's got dampeners up." I don't know.

"The others will be here soon, but I don't know how long it'll take with the dampeners were preventing Cisco from keeping breaches open."

"Where is Charlie?"

"He's fine. He's with Kal and Winn." He assured her before locking the bedroom door. "Have you found any exits?"

"Not yet, but there's plywood on the window there."

Barry moved to the window and opened it up. Behind the glass was a sheet of plywood as Caitlin described. he tried to punch through it, but that quickly proved to be a mistake. It was stronger than he expected. His hand broke through, but with great cost. His hand became stuck until he pulled back, a handful of wood and most likely broken. Only darkness greeted him on the other side. His hand was only mildly damaged and Caitlin began to pull out the splinters that were large enough to be removed by hand.g

He moved through to the door. "He went somewhere. Not sure where though. He must have left the house because he tied me up." Caitlin began to fill him in. "Chuck is across the way in his room."

"His what?"

"Barry, this Hunter is … he's worse than my Hunter." the way she said 'my' made her stomach churn. "He's got a whole house built, he doesn't want to hurt me, he wants to marry me. It's … we need to get Chuck and get out."

She moved forward and opened the door, looking around the hall. It seemed like a normal house, which made Barry's hair stand on end.

He moved down to the hall and began checking the doors. All the rooms seemed normal. Eventually they moved downstairs and Caitlin to the front door, moving quickly to get into Charlie's door. "Chuck?" She called, as he'd suggested she call him when they talked.

He opened the door. "What's going on? Barry's here? Are we getting out?"

She nodded. "Yes, yes let’s go!" she ushered him out the door with an urgency.

Barry began investigating the walls around the constricted outdoor area. He was shuffling around the walls.

"I already checked those." Charlie informed him. "If there's an exit it's probably in the main house somewhere.

As they spoke, one of the panels opened and Hunter stood in the doorway. "You have guests, darling? You know how I feel about superheroes."  
  
Barry’s hand came out to block a path to Caitlin. “They’re coming with me.” said Barry firmly. His hand protested from where it was in a fist. Then it was dark, pitch black. Tiny sparks began to appear in the dark. Coming from … Charlie? Charlie rubbed his hands frantically, building up what looked like the speed force around his body.  
  
Hunter moved fast, cuffing Charlie and Barry together. He moved so fast it was barely visible. He didn’t seem to have the Speed Force, but he was a bit faster than the average human. “You’re not going anywhere.” The light was gone from the room.  
  
Hunter vanished, quickly returning when there was light. “This is not what I wanted. Caitlin, I’m sorry. They have to die, they’re ruining my life.”

Caitlin moved across the room, placing a hand on the cuffs, before Hunter could grab her she froze them off, before turning an ice stream on Hunter.  
  
Her hit landed and he fell back, crashing into the grass, which seemed to be real with how the dirt churned up around him. “You’re a meta?” he demanded.

She had thought he’d known that, but it worked to her advantage that he didn’t. “Get Charlie out!” Caitlin called, viewing a warehouse through the entrance Hunter had come through.  
  
“I’m not leaving you.” he pointed to the door. “Charlie, go. Two men will meet you at the exit, Vibe and Echo. Tell them you’re Charlie Snow.”  
  
As Barry rushed to get Caitlin, Charlie rushed hit Hunter hard in the face. Knocking him out. He seemed to move at a human speed; he wasn’t a speedster. He didn’t even notice Caitlin’s ice stream clipping his shoulder. “Bastard.” She jumped back, pulling Charlie back. He winced, his whole face contorting with the pain. “Ooh, that’s _definitely_ frostbite, sis. Second degree, I’ll need a doctor.”  
  
“You idiot,” she said, ignoring his lapse in him calling her his sister. “Go with Barry, _go."_

Hunter moved fast, cuffing Charlie and Barry together. He moved so fast it was barely visible. He didn’t seem to have the Speed Force, but he was a bit faster than the average human. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Just in time, a large breach opened in the room. “Get in!” yelled Cisco, making his way through the entrance of the prison with Eddie.  
  
Eddie joined him, not very far behind. “I’ll get him in a cell.” As he spoke, he got the delirious and frozen Hunter into handcuffs.

Caitlin helped her brother through the breach. Barry followed, allowing Eddie to assist with Hunter. There wasn’t much time wasted getting Charlie to the med bay. “I need to gradually rewarm my arm and hope I don’t loose tissue.”  
  
“Glad to see you’re okay, Dr. Snow.” Gideon announced over the S.T.A.R. Labs comm. 

Caitlin jumped. “Thanks, Gideon.” She informed Charlie she was an A.I. before continuing to treat him.

 **One Month Later** **  
**

Caitlin came through from the Medbay to see Barry in the lab. “Hey,” she smiled a little, the situation was still a bit fresh to her; being in hell for days tended to stay with you.  
  
“Hey, I was wondering if Chuck decided what he was going to do yet?” He stayed focused on Gideon.  
  
“I didn’t tell you this before, but, Hunter he-- killed his family,” She explained to him with reluctance. “and he wants to stay here, if that’s okay?”

“I was worried that was the case. We’ll get him settled in here and when he’s ready we’ll have Cecile help make him un-dead.” Barry replied rather openly. He typed a few things into Gideon. “When he gets comfortable enough he can go back to school. You said he was a med student, right?”  
  
Caitlin nodded. “Yes, he is. I’m not sure what path he’ll go on now though.”

“You know, I don’t really know him right now, but maybe we could introduce him to Charlie eventually.” Barry offered but then paused-- “but I don’t mean-- he can’t replace your brother I know-- but you’ve both lost so much, I don’t see why we should shut him out.”

Caitlin wrapped her arms around Barry; pulling him close to her. “That sounds like amazing idea.”

“Should we go tell him?”

“Yes, right now.” She nodded, pulling away and grabbing Barry lightly by the wrist, and they made steps to return to their (not so normal) lives.


End file.
